Knowledge of the mechanical properties of thin films composed of, e.g., polymer, ceramics, diamond, or metals, is important in order to understand the performance of these materials. In many cases, devices incorporating films may be unable to function properly if the film undergoes mechanical failure. For instance, polymer films spin-cast onto semiconductor substrates perform both a protective and dielectric function; large residual stresses in these films can build up during and after the cure, causing the film to delaminate and rendering the semiconductor device inactive. In particular, in this case, build up of stress occurs because during spin casting, the film is heated to initiate the imidization (i.e., curing) reaction. During this process, water and solvent leave the spin-cast polyamic acid, resulting in contraction and generation of stress in the partially imidized film. Depending on the curing conditions and the type of polyimide film, the film may be further heated above its glass-transition temperature to initiate flow across the substrate's surface. As the now fully imidized polymer cools to room temperature, a mismatch in the coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) between the film and the substrate generates new--and typically very large--stresses along the plane of the polymer.